So I'm going this year from July 9th-14th and I understand that the summer is the busiest time for Yosemite, but what exactly does it mean to be busy there? I used to work in a theme park so I know it means to be busy there with 40,000+ people. I work in a restaurant so when my coworkers say that lunch was "slammed," I know exactly what that means. But what exactly does it mean for yosemite to be crowded? I've never been there before so I have no idea what to expect as far as crowds on trails or things to do and whatnot but I understand there are shuttles that take you to trailheads and such. Does this mean it might take hours for the shuttle? That anything that requires a reservation will not be available? I arranged my schedule specifically for this time because last year I went camping in Silver Lake at the end of June and there was a late winter in the Sierras in 2011. The drive across one of the mountain roads over the Sierras was kind of scary with snow at the top and a sharp descent. It was pretty freezing at night and snow covered some mountain tops. It was still a great experience, but the late winter gave us really cold weather at night and a scary mountain drive and I wanted to drive and bypass that so I don't have to pack as much.

The valley will be the most difficult to navigate in summer. Afternoons are bad. I have been stuck in traffic for two hours trying to get from curry to the village (about a mile). Shuttles have their own lane so do not get stuck that way, but they will fill to standing room only.

Parking in yosemite village day use parking lot or your campsite and walking or biking everywhere while in the valley saves a lot of time.

So unfortunately I don't think we'll bringing bikes along with us, but I'll look into it. As far as the shuttles, I understand some trails from yosemite valley require the shuttle to get to, or you could drive. How often do shuttles come and go?